Ascension Day and Mother's Day

Fr. Pete has recorded a video talking about the coming week at St. Tim's, which includes Ascension Day on May 9th, and Mother's Day on May 12th. View and listen here. And read on for the text of the video.

Aloha! This Sunday is a big day!

Yes, I know you’ve all been waiting for the 7th Sunday of Easter! And it’s Ascension Sunday. And—oh yes! Most importantly, it’s Mother’s Day!

We want to honor all our mothers this Sunday with a special prayer and a little gift of love, and we hope folks will bring some treats for our fellowship time after
worship—maybe something your own Mom would make?
​
Ascension Day is Thursday, May 9. This day, according to the “Episcopal Dictionary
of the Church,” marks the occasion on which the risen Christ is taken into heaven after appearing to his followers for 40 days (you can read about this event in Acts 1 and Mark 16:19). The Ascension marks the conclusion of Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances. It’s the final elevation of his human nature to divine glory and the near presence of God. We affirm the Ascension in our creeds.

While we won’t have a service on Ascension Day itself, we will celebrate the Ascension
of Jesus on Sunday. I hope you will be mindful about the Ascension and consider what
it means that the risen Jesus was taken up into heaven, where he is now and forever,
and that someday we will all join him there.
​
Last Sunday, we continued our journey through John’s gospel with Jesus in the Upper
Room with his disciples. And we considered three things from John 15: First, we asked:
Where do you most feel at home? Where is home sweet home? It can be any place we
feel safe, welcomed, comfortable, and loved. Jesus invites us to make ourselves at
home in his love. (I shared with you needlepoints of one place I call “home” in my heart,
in Virginia; I thought both were done by my mother, but it turns out the one on the left
was done by my cousin Beth, who with her family spent some time with us several
summers there when we were growing up!)

Second, we asked, How is Jesus challenging you to do something big for love? And
third, Can you hear Jesus calling you his friend? Because you are! Let’s let these words
from Jesus spur us to serve our hurting world with his love.

​This Sunday the sermon will focus on Psalm 1, and we’ll consider the path of life we are
following—is it the right one? If not, how do we find our God-given path? I hope you’ll
join us on Sunday morning at 9 in the Chapel, or worship with us on Facebook Live.

Looking ahead, on May 19 we celebrate the Day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit
descended to fill all the believers. And it’s a day we will renew our baptismal vows as, through baptism, we welcome John, Joy, and Ruth Ann Ridge into the family of Jesus!
Please keep them in your prayers.

I am praying for you, and I ask for your prayers for St. Timothy’s, our dedicated staff,
and our devoted lay leaders. May God bless you all!

In the love of our Ascended Lord,
Fr. Pete+
P.S. I’ve written an overview of St. Timothy, our patron saint, for our website. Please
click on the link under “About.”

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